Becoming
by Philocryptic
Summary: Everyone has the power to change the world, but few realize how to use that power. A series of events lead Ash to question his abilities, and he learns what he must do to achieve his goals, follow up on his dreams and use that power.
1. Lesson

**Becoming**

* * *

A week had gone by since he had earned his eighth badge. He still felt giddy at the fact that he was finally going to compete in the Indigo league. They had reached Pallet last day, and it felt great to finally be home, and sleep in his own bed. It was already 10 AM, and Pikachu was still sleeping. He could hear the voices coming from downstairs. Wondering what was up, he quickly dressed up and went downstairs. Brock and Misty were already up and were talking energetically with mom.

" ...battled for him."

"So you won the competetion?"

"Um. It was actually Ash who won it," Brock said as Misty blushed. "She was lucky that it was her face that Togepi saw after he hatched. That created an imprint of Misty in Togepi's mind, and because of that he considers her his mother."

They then noticed Ash standing listening to them. "Finally the Snorlax wakes up." Misty grinned as Ash glared.

"Ash! You are finally up. Go get yourself clean and brush your teeth. I will prepare your breakfast."

"OK. Morning all."

"Does he always sleep this late at home?" Brock asked as Ash went to the bathroom.

"Only when he has to go to the laboratory." Delia said as she went to the kitchen. "Tell me more about your journey. Does Ash eat enough? How does he behave with other people?"

"Mrs. Ketchum, lets just say Ash is similar to a Snorlax in more than sleeping habit." Misty quips. "And I wonder whether Ash is aware of other people. His mind is filled to the brim with just pokemon and food." Delia smiled at that. _Some habits never change._

"While that is true, you have raised him very well Mrs. Ketchum. He leaves a sound impression on everyone he meets. He sticks to his values, and I have never seen such moral fiber in one so young. He is very enthusiastic about pokemon." Brock praises. " Although he struggles to show this determination and enthusiasm in training, his aptitude for battling makes up for it."

"Well, Ash was always a dreamer. But, he has always been repeled to anything he percieves as hard work." She said from the kitchen. "He has inherited that quality from his dad. He had the same looks and passion about pokemon. I just hope Ash does not turn up the same way his father did. He had ambition in spades, had all the necessary drive. But, he was always averse to hard work, and due to that he could never reach his goal."

Mrs. Ketchum had a yearning look on her face as Brock thought of what to reply.

"Dont worry Mrs. Ketchum. He is still very young. Sooner or later he will realize that it is hard work that lays the groundwork to any achievement. He can go to any length to spend some quality time with his pokemon. He just doesn't consider training to be quality time. When he does that watching him battle would surely be a sight to behold."

Misty looks at Brock at that and realizes that he is completely serious. She herself had never seen Ash as anything special, but now hearing Brock's thought on his potential, she thought about it. Ash had always been lethargic. He seldom trained, and that too when forced to do it. She had always considered him an ordinary trainer. But now that she thought about it, ordinary trainers didn't act in the way Ash does. They dont have the kind of relationship that Ash and his pokemon had._I dont._ When faced with an unruly and aggressive pokemon which doesn't listen to its trainer, an ordinary trainer would get rid of that pokemon. Ash wouldn't. She remembered Primape. _Charizard. _She remembered the total misery on his face when he realized that Charizard wont listen to him. He had saved that peice of crap from death and from its abusive trainer. If she had such a pokemon, she would sell it faster than it could blink. The pokemon doesn't like its trainer, so selling it is giving the pokemon what it wants. But Ash is different. She still remembered the look on his face when she told him to send charizard away. He had not talked to her for a week. She asked herself why would he do that. Afterwards she would realize that it was the faith in his pokemon and in his own ability. He never gives up. She remembered him defeating Surge's Raichu. _A rookie's Pikachu defeating a gym leader's Raichu. _At the time she had not given it much credence,believing it to be a fluke. But now...

"PUT ME DOWN!"

She turned her head to see a horrer-stricken Ash. She realized what had freaked him out. He was floating over the floor.

"Oh, Mimey put him down, will you." Mrs. Ketchum told Mr. Mime which was moping the floor while pointing one of its hand in Ash's direction. Ash was lowered down, as she moved her hand in perfect synchronization with Ash's movement.

" Hey! What did you do that for?" Mr. Mime just gave him a look and then looked at the floor she was moping. Ash still looked confused. Misty forgot what she was thinking of. _How can Brock see potential in him._

Then he looked at the food and the confusion wore away from his face, and he quickly sat at the table. "PIKA" Pikachu shouted as he ran downstairs and sat beside Ash looking expectantly at Delia. _Like trainer, like pokemon._

* * *

" Nothing has changed in a year. Has it?" Ash asked as he walked to the laboratory. Pikachu nodded while rubbing his eyes.

"Hey! Whats up with you? Haven't .you slept enough?" Pikachu ignored him.

He knew almost all the people in Pallet Town, and all the people knew him. So, it was no surprise that he was greeted with smiles and wishes from almost everyone he saw. They asked about his journey. How he was doing. And finally congratulated him for getting 8 badges.

Seeing all these people cheering for him made him excited and filled him with determination to do good at the tournament. As he passed the last house, he saw the laboratory. It was a large building with canopy so wide that the entire stadium could fit in it. He went through the enterence and walked through the door. There was a young lady sitting on a reception desk. He looked up at her badge, but it was illegible. He was about to ask her about that when she spoke.

"Hello. May I enquire about your bussiness here."

He forgot what he was about to ask. "Oh. I am Ash Ketchum. Professor Oak called me here."

"Go to the synthesis chamber in the east wing." She pointed to a map that hung on the wall.

As he passed the huge laboratory, he looked at all the sections in it dedicated to every field of pokemon study. There were many people working in it, but there weren't as many pokemon here as he thought there would be. For such a large place there was little to no security. He wondered why team rocket had left it alone. It would surely be a treasure mine for them. He slowly walked into the room where he was told to be.

Professor Oak sat there reading over some data on a screen, and at the opposite corner sat Gary using a computer. "Ash, aren't you a little late for our meeting. We were waiting for you to come."

Ash gulped, feeling disappointed with himself. "Um. I slept in a little late. I am very sorry, I did not realize it was important."

"Ofcourse, it was important. Grandpa called us to it." Gary said.

"Important or not, you have to learn discipline Ash. You must have been very tired from the journey, so we can excuse this peccadillo of yours." Ash nodded relieved even though he didn't have clue what peccadillo was.

Professore smiled. "First, congratulations Ash for qualifying for the Indigo League. You, besides Gary are the only one who obtained 8 badges from Pallet."

" What happened to the other two trainers? How many badges have they got? Isn't there still two months left for the tournament."

"Ash you are underestimating your achievement. It is a very tough task to obtain 8 badges. Max and Judith both are talented, and I am sure that they will be capable of participating in the tournament next year. But right now they simply do not have the skill and power to defeat gym leaders like Lt. Surge, Sabrina, Koga and Blaine. The fact that you have done it in your first year is outstanding."

Ash felt a strange twitch in his body. He himself could only defeat Sabrina by luck, and he got the volcano badge due to the fact that Charizard decided Magmar-

"Now that there are only two months left for the tournament, I expect both of you to train harder. Doing good in your first tournament and battling your best will be the best feeling you can experience." He looked like he was reminiscing his own first tournament. "I also want to apprise you both on your pokedex status. Gary, in total you have caught 52 pokemon," Ash's eyes widened at that - "only some of which are from the same evolution family. And you have seen a total of 93 pokemon. While Ash, you have caught 39 pokemon, but most of them are Tauros." Gary laughed at that. "And you have seen a total of 128 pokemon, which is marvelous achievement." Ash smirked at Gary at this.

"So what. I did not need to flip out my pokedex at every opportunity I found. I knew most of them already. I bet in total I have seen more pokemon than you."

"Yeah right. You think you are so much better than myself. Lets battle right now. Because it doesn't matter how many pokemon you have. Only how you raise them matters."

"Ha. You are digging your own grave. I agree to your challenge."

"Boys, this is a laboratory, not a playground for kids to play at. If you want to battle go outside." They were already leaving the room hastily. "Wait! First give me your pokedex. You would find that at the tournament there are trainers with pokemon not belonging to Kanto. So, I am giving both of you a pokedex upgrade. It would contain information about pokemon from Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh. Also, the upgrade would contain additional functions of listing the pokemon's ability and having an inbuilt navigator." He looked to see both boys grinning and a carrying a dreamy look on their face. "Now go have your fight. Come back here in half an hour to get your pokedex."

Ash was smiling. Finally he had the chance to beat Gary and puncture his overgrown head. He thought about which pokemon he would use as they walked silently out of the laboratory. He knew Gary was strong, but he had confidence in his abilities and in his pokemon. He noticed that the reception desk and the woman was missing.

Meanwhile, Gary also was lost in his own thoughts. He knew he was going to win. Finally, he had the chance to prove himself the better trainer. Not that, he hadn't already done so. He had worked hard, trained each of his pokemon. He thought about which of his pokemon should he chose. He was fairly sure that Ash was going to choose Pikachu. He had Rhydon right now with him. But, using it would diminish the joy of his win.

They finally reached outside that laboratory to an open field. There were no trees, no rocks and no obstacles.

Gary was smirking as he said, "Lets have a one on one battle. Your starter versus my starter. That way we can find who the better trainer is."

Ash could barely stop himself from grinning. Gary's starter was squirtle. Even, if it has evolved into a Blastoise, it cannot handle Pikachu. "Lets fight then."

They both moved to the opposite sides of the field. Gary released his Blastoise. It looked back at Gary and raised his thumbs up. " Go on Pikachu. Show them who the real boss is." "Pika", with that he jumped into the battle.

"You get the first move."

"You are going to regret that. Thunderbolt." Pikachu's body began to glow from the accumulated power, and he released the electricity onto Blastoise in a single bolt.

"Protect. Then, Mud sport" Blastoise raised his hands and a soft white glow appeared in front of its hands. It crumbled as the electricity impacted it. But the thunderbolt didn't do any damage. He then spouted water from its cannon and it drenched the whole field. Finally he jumped, and all the field was covered with mud which flew into the air due to the impact of his landing.

" Agility!" A mud covered Pikachu began to move in a swift manner as it increased his speed and ran in circles aroung Blastoise.

" Blastoise Rapid spin." Blastoise ducked into his shell as he began to spin rapidly and move all over the field. But he couldn't hit Pikachu.

"Quick attack" Pikachu launched himself at lightning speed as Blastoise stopped spinning, with agility aiding his speed. Blastoise was hit. But, the attack didn't do much damage. Ash knew that Blastoise have great defence, but it could be defeated using thunderbolt. But due to Mud Sport, the effectiveness of electric attacks had diminished greatly. He would have to attack it from a shorter distance.

"Water Pulse." Blastoise aimed his cannons as water came swirling out of them. He moved his cannons in a harmonic motion as water was discharged in every direction.

"JUMP! And use thunderbolt" Pikachu jumped at the last moment to avoid the attack.

"Aim your cannons in the air" Pikachu tried to flip his body in order to launch the attack, but he was hit with it directly first. Pikachu stood up quickly, but some damage had been done.

Ash cursed to himself thinking of his avenues for attack. "Agility again and use thunderbolt whenever you find the chance."

"Use Hydro pump when you think you can hit him" Gary knew Pikachu was eventually going to tire out from all the running. He knew those Thunderbolts would still be painful if they hit but one direct hit from Hydro Pump would defeat Pikachu.

Pikachu stopped to use a Thunderbolt but before he could Blastoise had already started its attack. Instictively he spun sideways, and was just able to dodge the attack.

Ash gritted his teeth. He was going to loose if he couldn't find some way to attack Blastoise. He saw that Pikachu had already stopped at some distance from the Blastoise and was huffing.

"Quick Attack." With a burst of speed Pikachu launched at Blastoise. Blastoise was hit directly.

"Now use Thunderbolt." Ash commanded knowing that at such a close distance Thunderbolt would prove effective.

"Ice Beam" Gary grinned as he saw Blastoise quickly recovered from the Quick Attack to launch the attack. Pikachu's Thunderbolt hit the ice formed due to the beam. The beam burst through the Thunderbolt and hit Pikachu directly. He was launched in the air, and as he dropped to the ground he was hit with a Hydro Pump. Ash looked horrified as he saw Pikachu thrown back several feet and remained down.

"You did great Blastoise." With that Gary called it back.

"Well Ashy boy, looks like I am the better trainer." Ash ignored him as he picked up Pikachu to see if he is alright. "Are you alright Pikachu?" Pikachu slowly opened its eyes. "P-pika"

"Dont worry. It is going to be ok in a few hours." Gary replied as he closed the distance between them. "Lets go back to the laboratory." He went ahead without waiting for a reply.


	2. Guidance

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.**

* * *

Gary grinned as he walked towards the lab feeling content at defeating Ash so thoroughly. It was quite an easy battle, one in which Pikachu never stood a chance. Ashy boy will now think twice before challenging him. He felt somewhat bad for Ash as he knew that this loss must have shook him up. He looked behind him to see Ash following him quite dejectedly.

"Cheer up Ashy boy. No need to feel so depressed, after all you have only lost to a future champion." Ash's expression turned even more glum.

Gary sighed, "It was only a single battle. Dont tell me this is the only time you have lost a battle, or are you always so glum after losing a battle." He grinned, "If so, then you must be a real joy to travel with. I must ask Brock and Misty how blessed they feel." He saw the hands holding Pikachu curl up in a fist.

"Don't be so cocky. You may have won today. But, I assure you, the next time we battle, it wouldn't be so easy." Ash said gritting his teeth. He then asked the question that was on his mind. "How is that Thunderbolt was so easily bypassed by ice beam?"

"If I would have used Hydro Pump, Blastoise surely would have been hit by Thunderbolt. Water is a great conductor of electicity. Ice on the other hand is an insulator. Which is why ice beam so easily crushed the Thunderbolt."

Ash was impressed despite himself. Gary was totally prepared for the fight. Gary must have worked very hard to counter any weakness that Blastoise had. Pikachu didn't have any attack to damage Blastoise with. The potency of electric attacks was diminished by Mud Sport. Blastoise even had protect and ice beam to counter it. Quick attack was just too weak to make any impact, and the time time taken by Blastoise to attack with Hydro Pump was miniscule compared to the time taken by Pikachu to launch the Thunderbolt, thus leaving Thunderbolt ineffective. He had thought that he had found an opening when Blastoise was attacked by Quick Attack the second time, but Blastoise was too quick to recover. Ash was overwhelmed by all the causes of his defeat. He couldn't see what he could have done to change the result. Pikachu was his best pokemon for facing Blastoise. If he had lost, then what chance did his other pokemon had.

The reception lady greeted them as they entered the building. "Samuel just left the laboratory. He told me to give you these." She handed them their pokedex.

Ash noticed that he can now read the name on the badge pinned to her coat quite clearly. "Thank you mam." He turned to Gary. "That was a great battle. You have improved a lot since we last met." He was glad that the words came out of his mouth without a quiver. "So, what are you going to do now? Will you remain in the town, or will you continue to travel?"

"I will remain here till the end of the month and prepare for the tournament. Then I am going to travel and fight as many strong trainers as I can find. You can only train so much by yourself. Well, smell ya later." With that he left leaving Ash standing there with many different thoughts storming in his mind.

* * *

Mom was alone in the house watching a movie on TV. After briefing his mom about why Professor Oak called him, he sat on the sofa beside her with Pikachu in his lap. Pikachu had already recovered and was now happily squeezing the life out of the Ketchup bottle. They quietly watched the movie together.

"Mom, do you think I can become a champion?" Pikachu jerked his head up.

His mom looked surprised at the question. She looked at him inquisitively. "Ofcourse, you can become a champion." She said as she could see that Ash was looking for assurance. "Ash, it is not like you to doubt yourself. Why would you think that you are not capable?"

"Doesn't being a champion means being the best." She was about to respond, when Ash continued. "I know that I am still young, and that there are many years left before it is possible. But, Gary has been a pokemon trainer for the same period. And, right now he is better than me. There must be some things that I am doing wrong."

"Oh sweetie, I may not know a lot about being a trainer, but I know that everyone makes mistakes. Everyone fails at one point or another. The difference between ordinary people and a champion is how they react to those failures. A champion is someone who learns from those mistakes, who ensures that they don't make the same mistakes again." Ash was listening to her attentively. She hugged him closely. There was a shout of protest from Pikachu, as he broke loose from the embrace.

"The fact that you think you are doing something wrong is not necessarily a bad thing. Find out what you are doing wrong, and then try to set them right. Knowing what you are doing wrong is half the problem solved."

Ash remained quiet for a minute, pondering over what she said. "You always give the best advice." Ash looked at her affectionately. "I have missed this. I have missed you."

She smiled at him as she said, "If you were missing me, why didn't you call me much?"

"I called you every time we had a phone nearby," Ash responded in a protest.

"Well, we would have to do something about that. Wont we?"

* * *

Ash sat in his room, going through the pokedex. He had been at it for the past few hours; they were very productive. Today's battle had lead him to sift through the moves that Pikachu can learn, he thought that Iron Tail would be mighty useful. It was a move which complemented Pikachu's ability, as well as dealt good damage to rock and ground pokemon, whom Pikachu found it hard to battle. He had then looked over his other pokemon also. All of them had potential moves, which would be useful. Wasn't it a trainers duty to teach moves to their pokemon. He felt guilty at never trying to teach good moves to his pokemon. Additionally, he looked at the abilities of his pokemon, to which he had never really given much credence. But, now that he looked through them, various ways in which they could have aided in his battles flooded to his mind. He had never noticed Bulbasaur and Squirtel show any signs of their ability. Maybe, he hadn't trained them enough. He decided to go to Professor Oak's lab tomorrow for some advice.

His mind wandered back to the conversation with his mom. What was he doing wrong? Clearly not teaching them moves to help them battle wasn't it. He couldn't see how Pikachu with an Iron Tail would have made any difference. The obvious answer - he wasn't training them enough. He remembered AJ, whose Sandslash had produced a winning streak of 100 battles. He was extremely well trained in all the areas, speed, power, defence. Maybe, he should also try to emulate that; he could see that if Pikachu had faster responces then there was a possibility of changing the course of the battle. It wouldn't hurt to atleast try his best. With that he climbed down the bed and went out of his room. Togepi was sliding down the railing with an expression of delight. As he reached down the railing and propelled into the air, Pikachu dived and caught him. Togepi made a sound of pure joy and began to climb upstairs to do that all over again, but stopped when he saw him. Pikachu greeted him and jumped into his arms. Ash greeted both of them and picked up Togepi as Pikachu settled on his usual spot at his shoulder.

"Hey, wanna go outside, you can both play in the garden," he asked them. They both made sounds of approval. His mom was at the restaurant for a meeting, and he was asked to remain at home till she comes. He scanned the skies, looking at the setting sun. It had casted a reddish glow over everything, and turned Pikachu's yellow fur rosy colored. He smiled at the image. You could see an occasional Pidgey enjoying the serene weather. Togepi clambered out of his arms and trotted over the grass looked around curiously. Ash planked down on the grass, enjoying the moment.

"Hey Pikachu, what do you think about learning Iron Tail."

He looked at Ash perplexed, and then at his tail. He quickly shook his head frantically.

"Oh come on! You know it would be a very useful move. You have always had trouble with ground pokemon. Now, you will have something to hit them with. Imagine, you facing an Onix," Ash gesticulated excitedly. "His trainer is convinced that he is going to win. And out of nowhere you crush his hopes, with a SUPER EFFECTIVE IRON TAIL," He tried to coax Pikachu.

Pikachu was holding his tail closely, as if Ash was going to sacrifice his tail. But, the protest looked weak. "You know what. Think about that for a day. We are going to start preparing for the league from tomorrow," Ash said knowing Pikachu will agree.

Pikachu looked excited at the mention of training, forgetting his concerns about his tail. It looked he too was motivated after loosing to Blastoise. He could see someone coming from the driveway.

"Hey Brock! Misty! Where were you?"

"We were by the river. Misty decided that she wanted to see what sort of water pokemon were present around here." Ash could see that Brock was carrying Misty's fishing rod.

"So, what happened? Did you catch any pokemon?" Ash looked as Misty scowled.

"All I could find were freaking Magikarps. Why couldn't I meet a Poliwag or... or a Marill, anything."

"Dont forget that Psyduck you encountered today," Brock said grinning. "I thought it liked you."

"Shut up your mouth, if you know whats good for you," She warned Brock. "So, what did Professor Oak called you for?"

"He just wanted to tell me about my pokedex status. He also upgraded mine and Gary's pokedex, so that it can identify pokemon from other regions. He told me there will be pokemon from other regions at the league too," he finished trying to act cheerful.

"You don't look much happy with that. I'd have thought you would be jumping down the roof at the idea of seeing new pokemon," Brock said as he tried to keep the fish hook away from Togepi, who was trying to catch it.

"They would be at an advantage in a battle. What if I lose because of it?"

"Where is that attitude coming from. Just yesterday you were bragging how you were gonna win the league," Misty asked. "Not that I dont like the change."

Ash sighed running his hand through his hair. "I lost a battle to Gary today."

Brock and Misty glanced at each other. Brock shrugged. "You lost one battle. So what!" Misty stated.

"I know it was just one battle. But it was not that I lost, it was how I lost. I dont think I made any mistake in the battle. His pokemon was just too strong," Ash explained not wanting to reveal that he lost to a water pokemon.

"Ash, I know it is very demoralising to lose to your rival, and that too convincingly. But, feeling sorry for yourself wont help you one bit. If you think things are bad right now, then they will be worse if you do nothing. All you have to do now is to train harder, and ensure that it wont happen in the future," Brock said, not wanting to let this opportunity go to waste. He had always thought that Ash can be a great trainer if he could just put some effort into battling and raising his pokemon.

"Yeah. I know. I have already decided to start training from tomorrow. I'd be counting on both of you to help me." Both of them nodded straightaway.

* * *

Ash walked into the room where he was told Professor Oak would be working. He could see him in the corner of the room, examining a Slowbro, who had a device attached to him. Ash didn't want to disturb him as he looked deep in thought. He looked around the room. The shelves on the right wall were studded with strange objects. There were many instruments in the left side of the room. His attention was drawn to the table next to the shelf. On it was a tray, on which were placed what he recognized as evolution stones. He recognized Thunderstone, Leafstone, Moonstone, Waterstone and Sunstone, but he had never seen the others. He felt drawn to them. As he neared them,he could feel his skin tingling, and felt a disorienting sensation pass through him. It seemed that some strange power was pulsating from them; making his knees buckle. He leaned against the table to stop himself from dropping to the floor. He felt himself getting woozy, and he tried to call Professor Oak, but he couldn't speak. He could hear shouting, and he tried to locate it but a warm glow seemed to fill his vision, and then he heard a thud of someone dropping to the floor.

Ash mumbled something incoherent as he opened his eyes. His hands were trembling; he felt dizzy, lightheaded. He noticed that he was placed in a chair. Immediately Pikachu shouted as he looked at him in concern.

"Ash!" Professor Oak handed him a cup of hot tea. "Drink it. It will help you get relaxed."

"How are you? You gave us quiet a scare there." He looked at Professor Oak and noticed they were in a different room. Pokeballs of all kinds were stacked up in the room, which was full of shelves.

"Whoa! What happened?" He could feel his whole body pricking and pulsing. It was like an adrenaline rush, only worse.

Professor Oak studied him. "I dont really know for sure. But, it seemed like you had an adverse reaction to the evolution stones. Can you tell me how you fell unconscious?"

"Well, I saw the stones laying on the table. As I moved in for a closer look, I started feeling dizzy, as if my mind was spinning. The next thing I know, I am waking up here."

Professor thought for a moment while Ash drank the tea. "Some people have been known to give a strange response to the evolution stones. I have to admit that I have never seen anyone pass out due to them." Professor Oak was looking at him like he was an experiment for him to solve.

"But...but,I have handled a Thunderstone before. I didn't seem to feel anything then."

"Well, every stone radiates a different form of energy. Maybe it was the combination of all the stones that affected you. There is no need to worry. How are you feeling now?"

"Better." He looked around to see a Krabby approaching them. It was about Pikachu's size; and he was looking at him with a strange expression.

"Is it Gary's Krabby?"

The professor's lips twitched as he said, "Well,I seem to recall that you caught this Krabby."

Ash was amazed at hearing that. "Wow! Krabby, you have grown." Krabby stood taller as it cracked its claws.

"Krabby has been training hard at the corral and it has stimulated a sudden growth spurt. Pokemon are not like humans in their growth pattern. The more they battle, the faster they grow."

"Well, that is great Krabby," he tried to sound cheerful. Ash was stunned. Here he was slacking as a trainer with the pokemon he has at hand, meanwhile the pokemon he has left alone has been training on his own. He has not even enquired about Krabby in months. He decided to redress this immediately. " What do you say about training with me today? And we can see how strong you have got." Krabby clucked happily. Pikachu approached him and started a talking to him amicably.

"Professor, how are my other pokemon?" Ash asked.

"They are as well as they can be. You have already seen how affectionate Muk is, and the Tauros herd feel right at home at the corral. So, Ash care to tell me why you wanted to visit me?"

"I wanted some advice from you. For training."

Professor immediately brightened. "I would love to, Ash. Is there something specific you want to ask?"

"How should I prepare for the league?"

"That is not something I can tell you. It is upto you how to train. Every trainer has a different style of battling, they each have different pokemon and there are so many ways to battle that I cannot give you the suitable answer. It is only you who knows the answer to that question. I can help you in answering that question yourself. Examine the strengths and weaknesses of your pokemon, both individually and as a team. Keep in mind that how they complement your skills as a trainer. Dont just focus on the strength of your pokemon, but give special consideration to how to counter their weakness. Remember that the most powerful pokemon aren't ones with the most strengths, but one with the least weaknesses."

Ash took his time as he pondered this. He remembered how Gary had prepared Blastoise to counter his weakness to electricity. Well, if Gary can, then so can he; he vowed with determination.

"Professor, I also wanted to ask you how to train Charizard; he doesn't even listen to me. What should I do to get him to respect me as his trainer?" It has always been a thorn in his flesh, always at the back of his mind that Charizard doesn't want him as his trainer.

"There are many pokemon who evolve, and then become overconfident in their ability. You always have to remember that you have a responsibility to your pokemon. No matter what happens, you have to stick to them. Even if they disrespect you as a trainer, you have to stick to them, do what you think is best for them, and eventually your pokemon will begin to realize your worth." He waited for Ash to contemplate it, and then continued. "At first, it may be difficult, and the result you want will not be in your sight. But, you have to remain patient, and refrain from thinking about the result too much. You don't learn how to walk by thinking too much about it."

Ash was looking at him in amazement. Professor looked embarrassed, and then asked him. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, thank you Professor. This talk has been very helpful. I apologize for interrupting with your work," Ash said gratefully.

"No need to thank me, Ash. This is what I love most; helping young trainers. Call me anytime you need any help." With that they both continued out of the storage room, with Pikachu and Krabby in tow.

"Oh, by the way Professor. I was wondering about the lack of security around here. What if Team Rocket come here?"

"I assure you, the security is more than adequate. You may not see it anywhere, but it doesn't mean it is not there. There are psychic pokemon positioned at key places in the lab. They are the best defences anyone can have. I believe you have already met one. And, by the way Team Rocket has been destroyed."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you everyone for the reviews. This chapter was very dialogue heavy. There will be more action in the next chapter.**


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